BA goes budget? Free baggage allowance scrapped on European routes

British Airways has launched "hand-baggage only" fares on selected flights to Europe, with passengers charged an additional £10 for checking in a bag.

The airline's move is a bid to reward passengers who travel light with the £10 discount on flights from Heathrow and London City airports to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paris, Rome, Rotterdam and Stockholm.

While it may be welcomed by business passengers travelling light for a couple of days, city breakers flying for shopping getaways to the popular European cities could see the move as an add-on charge, which is usually offered by budget airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet.

Robin Glover-Faure, BA's head of short-haul, told the Evening Standard: "The hand baggage-only fare at Gatwick has proved very popular with our customers so we're now introducing it on a selected number of short-haul routes from Heathrow and London City.

"If it proves as successful, we plan to roll it out across the whole short-haul network in the coming months."

BA's £10 charge for a 23kg bag is the same as easyJet's fee for a 20kg case and less than Ryanair's lowest charge of £15 for a 15kg bag.

Speaking to The Independent, an easyJet spokeswoman said: "We doubt BA's move will make much difference for customers. With easyJet's better prices, schedule, on-time performance and friendly crew, BA will have to try a lot harder to match the value we offer."

Long-haul flights will not be affected by the "hand-baggage only" launch.

What do you think of BA's "hand-baggage only" fares? Do you see it as a discount or an add-on charge? Leave a comment below.

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